Daughter Clinical Negligence case against NHS Trust.

[Mrs Charlton]

My little girl (now 21 months) has Hip Dysplasia (clicky hips for those that think 'huh?' LOL).

I noticed contributing factors at birth (poor abductions and stiffness in leg movement) but also there was positive family history as both myself and my sister had the condition as a child.

Basically docs assured me after birth she was fine. I took her back at 2 weeks old raising my concerns again- fobbed off and told she was fine.

Took her to 6 weeks check after birth- collapsed in tears on a doctor (not my gp a total stranger) saying nobody would listen to me and she examined my daughter and agreed straight away there was a problem.

Time is VITAL in early diagnosis and treatment of this condition as it means the difference between the baby just wearing a Pavlik Harness, or baby having to have surgery and Spica Cast treatment.

So this was November 2004 my daughter was referred to a specialist consultant. Our appointment for ultrasound screening came through 2 months later, and my daughter was eventually seen in February, a whole 3 months later. It was a further month until we saw the consultant again and she was finally treated, but because it had been delayed so much she had to have the surgery and spica cast. It is not fun holding your 5 month old daughter while they give her a general anaesthetic

The treatment lasted 4 months, then she went into a brace for 4 months.
During this time I did HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE amounts of research on the condition, tried lots of different things and set up a website to help other parents which children with the condition (not sure if allowed to post website address so PM me if anyone wants it).

I found that it is practically protocol throughout the UK to screen babies with family history of the condition as a matter of course, and that my daughter should have received an ultrasound scan on her hips within the first few days of her life.

Contacted a solicitor and the case is ongoing, will take a looooooooong time to sort out and probably cost quite a bit in the long run (good job I have all these bank charges to claim back eh? LOL) but I am determined to ensure that a written procedure is put in place so that no other babies slip through the net. Not even bothered about the money (although we have been told our daughter could end up with a nice amount to be held by the courts and collect when she is 1 I just want them to acknowledge that our daughter suffered unecessarily through a drastic shortfall in her care and poor administration and delays between appointments putting her over the timeline where a Pavlik Harness would have been successful.

Thanks for reading if you got to the end, it was nice to get all that out.

Trace. x

[callumsgran]

Hi Trace, what a nightmare!!! i would be so angry if that were me! like you say its not the money but the principle isnt it? i wish you well with your claim and of course your little girls treatment, best of luck!!

[Bookworm]

There is no excuse. Babies, and baby girls in particular, are checked at birth, and it is one of the easiest things to spot, and as you say, take care of at the early stages.

My daughter had minor hip dyslasia at birth, and I was advised to keep her legs splayed as much as possible, and as I was carrying her around in a sling, I was told to make sure I arranged her legs to try and keep the angle right. Thankfully, by the time her 6 week check-up came up, she was ok, but I can completely sympathise with your pain and anger.

I hope you get every penny you can. It will never start making up for it. All the best.

[Rich44]

I agree our baby is 9 days old and he was checked 2 days after he was born a consultant spent about 10 mins checking him over.

I dont know if they check every baby but they make a point of checking the ones that are breech as apparently if they are then that makes them a slightly higher risk and even more so if theres some history.

Its just so ridiculous that you have had this happen as the test takes like 10 minutes of a bit of discomfort for the baby and thats it, hardly a massive drain on the NHS is it?

I wish you and yours all the best and I hope you get a settlement from the NHS eventually

[pickle29]

Hi,

I hope I'm doing the right thing in resurrecting this old thread rather than starting a new one.

My daughter is now 14yrs old and was born 5/6 weeks premature. At her 6 months check (she was, by then 9 mths old as it took this long to come through) the doctor noticed she couldn't sit well (kept falling over to one side) and after examination referred her to an orthopaedic consultant who a couple of weeks later confirmed she had hip dysplasia. In her case a complete dislocation where the ball of the femur had never been in the hip socket at all since birth (or even maybe previously)

The local consultant referred her to Great Ormond Street Hospital where she was in traction for 3 weeks and then underwent an "open reduction" operation and then months in a hip spica cast folowed by a few months in a splint. I could prattle on for hours about all that we/she put up with during this time but I wont bore you with all that.

Anyway as far as we knew everything was fine, she was recovered & all we needed to do was treat her normally & take her to an annual check up at GOS and that was that. But now after a recent appointment everything has changed. In the past whe we have gone, each time they have said how much she has improved etc but this time it transpired she has not had any improvement in the last two xrays & the consultant has suggested that (sometime in the next few years) she will probably need an operqation to build up her hip socket as it is too shallow & will probably suffer from arthritis sooner rather than later in life. Also it transpires she has one leg approx 1cm shorter than the other.

Now to my question..

It never occurred to us that we might have any grounds to sue about this, we just felt it was one of those things. In fact we felt we were lucky to have had such fantastic treatment & a gorgeous (now fit & healthy) daughter. However, if it is likely she will suffer future problems, surgeries and the like I'm starting to wonder if we should pursue this. Am I right in thinking she can sue in her own right when she reaches 16?

It also occurs to me that it might be difficult to prove negligence but having said that her hips were checked before we left hospital after she was born & again on 3/4 occasions at the GP surgery. My GP used to call her "our little one who slipped through the net"!!!

Does anyone have experience of this or could anyone offer any advice in this situation???

Thanks for reading Sorry it sooooo long :o

[poppynurse]

You need advice from a solicitor specialising in medical negligence

[Mrs Charlton]

Pickle I haven't been on here in ages as have gone back to work after having 2nd baby, but just saw your response on here. AFAIK when is is to do with negligence with a child you have until their 18th birthday...but don't quote me, this could be a recent thing and not be applicable to your daughter.
We narrowly escaped Traction with our daughter and my heart goes out to you, I cannot imagine how scray it muct have been and how awful
The law firm I am using with this case is Irwin Mitchell and they have offices all over UK, it might be worth giving them a call I know I am by no means their only clicky hip case and my barrister used to be an ortho doc and knows all the ins and outs. Its so nice talking to someone who knows what should have happened, for such a common problem it is still relatively unknown by some. I had one childrens ward nurse try and lift my daughter under her arms when she'd just had her 22lbs plaster cast put on, as if a tiny baby can support all that weight?!!!!
Best wishes you your daughter and I hope her further treatment goes well. For what its worth my hip gets painful sometimes, but if I stay on top of my weight and wrap up extra warm in cold weather and things like that it takes the edge off the pain. If she does start to suffer pain wise the rub-in Ibuprofen Gel is a godsend xxxxx

[johnhill007]

I had a complaint and ended up suing and winning against the NHS for £ 1/4m (they settled earlier this year).

As part of our building and contents insurance we had legal cover thrown in - it was this through this cover that my concerns were passed onto solicitors who establised I had better than 50% chance of winning the claim - so they handled the claim at no cost to myself - and won (after 3 years).

It may be worth while initially checking policy documents to see if you have such cover in place - the cost of going it alone could be quite tough (medical reports, examinations, etc, etc).

Hope this is of some help.

[hunkston]

Hospitals always strive to give the best care possible, unfortunately as with anything some things a not seen and the profession doctors are in this is unacceptable, you and your family should not have had to go through the torture you did! [edited]